The present energy economy, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, is not sustainable over the medium to long term for many interconnected reasons. Climate change is now recognized as posing a ...
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The present energy economy, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, is not sustainable over the medium to long term for many interconnected reasons. Climate change is now recognized as posing a serious threat. Energy and resource decisions involving carbon fuels play a role in this threat. Fossil fuel reserves may be running short and many major reserves are in politically unstable parts of the world. Yet citizens in nations with rapidly developing economies aspire to the benefits of the modern energy economy. China and India alone have 2.4 billion potential customers for cars, industries, and electrical services. Even so, more than half of the world's citizens still lack access to energy. Decisions involving fossil fuels are therefore a significant part of the development equation. This volume explains how the law can impede or advance the shift to a world energy picture significantly different from that which exists today. It first examines the factors that create the problems of the present carbon economy, including environmental concerns and development goals. It then provides international and regional legal perspectives, examining public international law, regional legal structures, the responses of international legal bodies, and the role of major international nongovernmental actors. The book then moves on to explore sectoral perspectives including the variety of renewable energy sources, new carbon fuels, nuclear power, demand controls, and energy efficiency. Finally, it examines how particular states are, could, or should, be adapting legally to the challenges of moving beyond the carbon economy.Less

Beyond The Carbon Economy : Energy Law in Transition

Published in print: 2008-03-06

The present energy economy, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, is not sustainable over the medium to long term for many interconnected reasons. Climate change is now recognized as posing a serious threat. Energy and resource decisions involving carbon fuels play a role in this threat. Fossil fuel reserves may be running short and many major reserves are in politically unstable parts of the world. Yet citizens in nations with rapidly developing economies aspire to the benefits of the modern energy economy. China and India alone have 2.4 billion potential customers for cars, industries, and electrical services. Even so, more than half of the world's citizens still lack access to energy. Decisions involving fossil fuels are therefore a significant part of the development equation. This volume explains how the law can impede or advance the shift to a world energy picture significantly different from that which exists today. It first examines the factors that create the problems of the present carbon economy, including environmental concerns and development goals. It then provides international and regional legal perspectives, examining public international law, regional legal structures, the responses of international legal bodies, and the role of major international nongovernmental actors. The book then moves on to explore sectoral perspectives including the variety of renewable energy sources, new carbon fuels, nuclear power, demand controls, and energy efficiency. Finally, it examines how particular states are, could, or should, be adapting legally to the challenges of moving beyond the carbon economy.

Ocean and Coastal Law has grown rapidly in the past three decades as a specialty area within Natural Resources Law and Environmental Law. The protection of oceans and coasts has received increased ...
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Ocean and Coastal Law has grown rapidly in the past three decades as a specialty area within Natural Resources Law and Environmental Law. The protection of oceans and coasts has received increased attention because of sea-level rise, beach erosion, ocean acidification, the global overfishing crisis, widespread depletion of marine living resources such as marine mammals and coral reefs, and marine pollution. Dozens of law schools in the United States and abroad now offer courses on topics including Ocean and Coastal Law, law of the sea, and marine pollution, and several have developed specialty programs in these areas. During this same period, climate change regulation has emerged as a focus of international environmental diplomacy, and has gained increased attention in the wake of disturbing and abrupt climate-change-related impacts throughout the world that have profound implications for ocean and coastal regulation and marine resources. This book unites the two worlds of climate change regulation and ocean and coastal management. It raises important questions about whether and how ocean and coastal law will respond to the regulatory challenges that climate change presents to resources in the oceans and coasts of the United States and the world. Divided into two major units—one for oceans and the other for coasts—this comprehensive work assembles the insights of global experts from academia and major NGOs (e.g., Center for International Environmental Law, Ocean Conservancy, and Environmental Law Institute) to address regulatory challenges from the perspectives of U.S. law foreign domestic law, and international law.Less

Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law : U.S. and International Perspectives

Published in print: 2015-01-28

Ocean and Coastal Law has grown rapidly in the past three decades as a specialty area within Natural Resources Law and Environmental Law. The protection of oceans and coasts has received increased attention because of sea-level rise, beach erosion, ocean acidification, the global overfishing crisis, widespread depletion of marine living resources such as marine mammals and coral reefs, and marine pollution. Dozens of law schools in the United States and abroad now offer courses on topics including Ocean and Coastal Law, law of the sea, and marine pollution, and several have developed specialty programs in these areas. During this same period, climate change regulation has emerged as a focus of international environmental diplomacy, and has gained increased attention in the wake of disturbing and abrupt climate-change-related impacts throughout the world that have profound implications for ocean and coastal regulation and marine resources. This book unites the two worlds of climate change regulation and ocean and coastal management. It raises important questions about whether and how ocean and coastal law will respond to the regulatory challenges that climate change presents to resources in the oceans and coasts of the United States and the world. Divided into two major units—one for oceans and the other for coasts—this comprehensive work assembles the insights of global experts from academia and major NGOs (e.g., Center for International Environmental Law, Ocean Conservancy, and Environmental Law Institute) to address regulatory challenges from the perspectives of U.S. law foreign domestic law, and international law.

Global climate change presents one of the most difficult problems the international community has ever faced. Recent events at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference suggest that the United ...
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Global climate change presents one of the most difficult problems the international community has ever faced. Recent events at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference suggest that the United Nations is not yet equipped to address the issue, and national politics reveal that, in most cases, domestic politicians have neither the political will nor the regulatory tools at their disposal to structure effective policy regimes. Against this daunting backdrop, the experiences of United States and European Union climate policy over the last two decades offers instructive lessons. The historical evolution in US and EU climate policy exemplifies how climate change has risen to the top of political agendas in divergent contexts while the spans separating US and EU climate policy to date epitomize the struggles inherent in on-going global efforts to address climate change. Neither the EU nor the US offer unqualified lessons in success, but both offer many lessons, some of which reveal successes but all of which offer opportunities to learn from social, political, and regulatory experiments. Premised on the notion that US and EU efforts to address climate change are closely linked to global climate change politics, this book explores the content and process of climate change law and policymaking in the US and the EU to reveal policy convergences and divergences, and to examine how these convergences and divergences influence the ability of the global community to structure a sustainable, effective, and equitable long-term climate strategy.Less

Climate Change Law and Policy : EU and US Perspectives

Cinnamon P. Carlarne

Published in print: 2010-09-02

Global climate change presents one of the most difficult problems the international community has ever faced. Recent events at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference suggest that the United Nations is not yet equipped to address the issue, and national politics reveal that, in most cases, domestic politicians have neither the political will nor the regulatory tools at their disposal to structure effective policy regimes. Against this daunting backdrop, the experiences of United States and European Union climate policy over the last two decades offers instructive lessons. The historical evolution in US and EU climate policy exemplifies how climate change has risen to the top of political agendas in divergent contexts while the spans separating US and EU climate policy to date epitomize the struggles inherent in on-going global efforts to address climate change. Neither the EU nor the US offer unqualified lessons in success, but both offer many lessons, some of which reveal successes but all of which offer opportunities to learn from social, political, and regulatory experiments. Premised on the notion that US and EU efforts to address climate change are closely linked to global climate change politics, this book explores the content and process of climate change law and policymaking in the US and the EU to reveal policy convergences and divergences, and to examine how these convergences and divergences influence the ability of the global community to structure a sustainable, effective, and equitable long-term climate strategy.

This book examines the highly topical question of the current and future role of international environmental law in directing and controlling the environmental conduct of business enterprises, in ...
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This book examines the highly topical question of the current and future role of international environmental law in directing and controlling the environmental conduct of business enterprises, in particular multinational corporations. It replies to this question through the identification of corporate accountability standards and their implementation by international organizations. The book examines systematically all international sources of corporate accountability standards in the specific area of environmental protection and elaborates on their theoretical and practical implications for international environmental law. The book argues that although international environmental treaties do not bind multinational corporations and other business entities, growing international practice points to the emergence of legal standards that allow adapting and translating inter-State obligations embodied in international environmental law into specific normative benchmarks to determine the legitimacy of the conduct of the private sector against internationally recognized values and rules. The book also focuses on the role of international organizations in selecting international environmental standards and promote their application to business entities, in the absence of State intervention. The book analyses the growing practice of international organizations, which are driving a process of emergence of international standards for corporate environmental accountability. Furthermore, the impact of international organizations' direct relations with the private sector is also assessed, as it significantly contributes to ensuring that private companies comply with international environmental standards.Less

Corporate Accountability in International Environmental Law

Elisa Morgera

Published in print: 2009-01-15

This book examines the highly topical question of the current and future role of international environmental law in directing and controlling the environmental conduct of business enterprises, in particular multinational corporations. It replies to this question through the identification of corporate accountability standards and their implementation by international organizations. The book examines systematically all international sources of corporate accountability standards in the specific area of environmental protection and elaborates on their theoretical and practical implications for international environmental law. The book argues that although international environmental treaties do not bind multinational corporations and other business entities, growing international practice points to the emergence of legal standards that allow adapting and translating inter-State obligations embodied in international environmental law into specific normative benchmarks to determine the legitimacy of the conduct of the private sector against internationally recognized values and rules. The book also focuses on the role of international organizations in selecting international environmental standards and promote their application to business entities, in the absence of State intervention. The book analyses the growing practice of international organizations, which are driving a process of emergence of international standards for corporate environmental accountability. Furthermore, the impact of international organizations' direct relations with the private sector is also assessed, as it significantly contributes to ensuring that private companies comply with international environmental standards.

The history of international environmental dialogue is a history of conflict between developing and industrial countries encompassing the framework, nature, and agenda of international environmental ...
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The history of international environmental dialogue is a history of conflict between developing and industrial countries encompassing the framework, nature, and agenda of international environmental law. The conflict is focused on who should take responsibility, in what measure, and under what conditions to contain global environmental degradation. In the face of inequality in resources and contributions to global environmental degradation, sovereign states have crafted a burden sharing arrangement rooted in differential treatment. Differential treatment refers to the use of norms that provide for different, more advantageous, treatment to some states. Real differences exist between states, and the norms of differential treatment recognize and respond to these differences by instituting different standards for different states or groups of states. This book explores the value of differential treatment in integrating developing countries into international environmental regimes. It systematically categorizes and analyses the terms of integration, respecting differential treatment across new generation environmental treaties. It ferrets out the philosophical and practical bases for differential treatment in environmental treaties, and creates a framework within which differential treatment can be assessed. It suggests certain boundaries to differential treatment in international environmental law, and explores in detail the reach of differential treatment in the climate regime. The conflict between industrial and developing countries has thus far significantly impaired the ambition of the international environmental agenda. The relevance of this book lies in its ability to provide a principled framework within which the conflict between industrial and developing countries in the international environmental realm can be examined and resolved.Less

Differential Treatment in International Environmental Law

Lavanya Rajamani

Published in print: 2006-01-12

The history of international environmental dialogue is a history of conflict between developing and industrial countries encompassing the framework, nature, and agenda of international environmental law. The conflict is focused on who should take responsibility, in what measure, and under what conditions to contain global environmental degradation. In the face of inequality in resources and contributions to global environmental degradation, sovereign states have crafted a burden sharing arrangement rooted in differential treatment. Differential treatment refers to the use of norms that provide for different, more advantageous, treatment to some states. Real differences exist between states, and the norms of differential treatment recognize and respond to these differences by instituting different standards for different states or groups of states. This book explores the value of differential treatment in integrating developing countries into international environmental regimes. It systematically categorizes and analyses the terms of integration, respecting differential treatment across new generation environmental treaties. It ferrets out the philosophical and practical bases for differential treatment in environmental treaties, and creates a framework within which differential treatment can be assessed. It suggests certain boundaries to differential treatment in international environmental law, and explores in detail the reach of differential treatment in the climate regime. The conflict between industrial and developing countries has thus far significantly impaired the ambition of the international environmental agenda. The relevance of this book lies in its ability to provide a principled framework within which the conflict between industrial and developing countries in the international environmental realm can be examined and resolved.

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is one of the longest established and more controversial of the common policies of the EC. It deals principally with the management of fishery resources, relations ...
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The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is one of the longest established and more controversial of the common policies of the EC. It deals principally with the management of fishery resources, relations between the EC and third States in fisheries matters, the marketing of and trade in fishery products, financial assistance to the fisheries sector, and aquaculture. However, the CFP is not just a matter for those with an economic interest in fisheries. It also raises many issues of more general concern, such as the capacity of the EC and its member states to manage important natural resources sustainably, the impact of fishing on the wider marine environment, and relations between developed and developing states. This book addresses the CFP from a legal perspective. It provides a detailed account of the very large body of EC law comprising the CFP, and draws on the European Commission's associated documents to aid interpretation and add context. As a result, the book will be of value to anyone wanting knowledge of the law of the CFP. Although not addressing the Commission's 2009 Green Paper on reform of the CFP, the book should provide a reference point against which to view the reform of parts of the CFP that is anticipated to take place over the next few years.Less

The EC Common Fisheries Policy

Robin ChurchillDaniel Owen

Published in print: 2010-03-04

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is one of the longest established and more controversial of the common policies of the EC. It deals principally with the management of fishery resources, relations between the EC and third States in fisheries matters, the marketing of and trade in fishery products, financial assistance to the fisheries sector, and aquaculture. However, the CFP is not just a matter for those with an economic interest in fisheries. It also raises many issues of more general concern, such as the capacity of the EC and its member states to manage important natural resources sustainably, the impact of fishing on the wider marine environment, and relations between developed and developing states. This book addresses the CFP from a legal perspective. It provides a detailed account of the very large body of EC law comprising the CFP, and draws on the European Commission's associated documents to aid interpretation and add context. As a result, the book will be of value to anyone wanting knowledge of the law of the CFP. Although not addressing the Commission's 2009 Green Paper on reform of the CFP, the book should provide a reference point against which to view the reform of parts of the CFP that is anticipated to take place over the next few years.

The book Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa addresses the role of law in securing energy access for huge numbers of people in Africa who live without the benefit of modern energy ...
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The book Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa addresses the role of law in securing energy access for huge numbers of people in Africa who live without the benefit of modern energy services. Contributions to the book offer a variety of legal and socio-legal perspectives on the subject of energy access, describing the dire situation of energy poverty on the African continent and emphasizing its implications for overall development. Specific themes addressed include the concept of energy justice, the international human rights framework for advancing the notion of a right to energy, and the role of regulation and legal reform in achieving the desired levels of energy access. In particular, attention is focused on the use of law and policy to create an enabling environment, including appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms, for the financing of energy infrastructure and the development of new forms of energy. In relation to the latter, key considerations for constituting intellectual property governance regimes that promote access to relevant technology are canvassed. Furthermore, the disproportionate impact of energy poverty on women, children, and disabled persons is highlighted in the context of the limitations of existing law and the growing recognition of this reality in emerging legal interventions. The environmental dimension, which similarly affects these vulnerable population groups, is directed at the water-energy nexus, critical to the provision of clean water and clean energy. The focus on Nigeria and South Africa in some chapters reflects the institutional collaboration from which this volume has emerged.Less

Ending Africa's Energy Deficit and the Law : Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa

Published in print: 2018-02-22

The book Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa addresses the role of law in securing energy access for huge numbers of people in Africa who live without the benefit of modern energy services. Contributions to the book offer a variety of legal and socio-legal perspectives on the subject of energy access, describing the dire situation of energy poverty on the African continent and emphasizing its implications for overall development. Specific themes addressed include the concept of energy justice, the international human rights framework for advancing the notion of a right to energy, and the role of regulation and legal reform in achieving the desired levels of energy access. In particular, attention is focused on the use of law and policy to create an enabling environment, including appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms, for the financing of energy infrastructure and the development of new forms of energy. In relation to the latter, key considerations for constituting intellectual property governance regimes that promote access to relevant technology are canvassed. Furthermore, the disproportionate impact of energy poverty on women, children, and disabled persons is highlighted in the context of the limitations of existing law and the growing recognition of this reality in emerging legal interventions. The environmental dimension, which similarly affects these vulnerable population groups, is directed at the water-energy nexus, critical to the provision of clean water and clean energy. The focus on Nigeria and South Africa in some chapters reflects the institutional collaboration from which this volume has emerged.

Networks such as cables and pipelines are essential for a functioning energy market. This book provides an overview of the legal challenges this poses in the modern world. The construction and use of ...
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Networks such as cables and pipelines are essential for a functioning energy market. This book provides an overview of the legal challenges this poses in the modern world. The construction and use of these networks depends on developments in technology, policies, and legal regulation. Recently, the energy sector has been faced with considerable challenges and changes. Energy liberalization and deregulation, and the fact that traditional energy supplies like fossil fuels and large hydro plants are increasingly located far from the area of demand has drastically changed the energy landscape. The need for new sources of energy supply can therefore be found all over the world. This book investigates the challenges that face governments engaged in this renewal, particularly since in many cases these networks are, by necessity, international. The construction of new networks always involves the application of planning and environmental laws, and the complications these pose only increase as networks pass through the territory of several different countries. This book analyses the evolution of this area from several angles, both geographical and legal.Less

Energy Networks and the Law : Innovative Solutions in Changing Markets

Published in print: 2012-02-23

Networks such as cables and pipelines are essential for a functioning energy market. This book provides an overview of the legal challenges this poses in the modern world. The construction and use of these networks depends on developments in technology, policies, and legal regulation. Recently, the energy sector has been faced with considerable challenges and changes. Energy liberalization and deregulation, and the fact that traditional energy supplies like fossil fuels and large hydro plants are increasingly located far from the area of demand has drastically changed the energy landscape. The need for new sources of energy supply can therefore be found all over the world. This book investigates the challenges that face governments engaged in this renewal, particularly since in many cases these networks are, by necessity, international. The construction of new networks always involves the application of planning and environmental laws, and the complications these pose only increase as networks pass through the territory of several different countries. This book analyses the evolution of this area from several angles, both geographical and legal.

This volume examines energy security in a privatized, liberalized, and increasingly global energy market, in which the concept of sustainability has developed together with a higher awareness of ...
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This volume examines energy security in a privatized, liberalized, and increasingly global energy market, in which the concept of sustainability has developed together with a higher awareness of environmental issues, but where the potential for supply disruptions, price fluctuation, and threats to infrastructure safety must also be considered. Part I commences with an essential introductory chapter which defines energy security and sets forth the key issues and themes of the book. There then follows several cross-cutting chapters which include sceptical analysis of energy security claims from an environmental perspective and a broader geopolitical analysis of energy security. Part II examines a wide variety of international, regional, and national approaches to energy security issues. Energy security concerns differ considerably from country to country; however, most of the chapters examining particular nations provide an economic and historical context of their energy security concerns, followed by a detailed analysis of the legal provisions relating to each of the main energy sectors (oil, gas, coal, electricity, nuclear, and renewable). This entails examination of regulation, organization, and planning for security and other purposes. In a number of cases, energy security law is shaped by other factors such as market liberalization, environmental protection, and competition policy. Part III comprises two final chapters, the first contrasting the various national and regional approaches and analysing cross-cutting issues, whilst the concluding chapter forecasts future trends in the legal regulation of energy security.Less

Published in print: 2004-03-25

This volume examines energy security in a privatized, liberalized, and increasingly global energy market, in which the concept of sustainability has developed together with a higher awareness of environmental issues, but where the potential for supply disruptions, price fluctuation, and threats to infrastructure safety must also be considered. Part I commences with an essential introductory chapter which defines energy security and sets forth the key issues and themes of the book. There then follows several cross-cutting chapters which include sceptical analysis of energy security claims from an environmental perspective and a broader geopolitical analysis of energy security. Part II examines a wide variety of international, regional, and national approaches to energy security issues. Energy security concerns differ considerably from country to country; however, most of the chapters examining particular nations provide an economic and historical context of their energy security concerns, followed by a detailed analysis of the legal provisions relating to each of the main energy sectors (oil, gas, coal, electricity, nuclear, and renewable). This entails examination of regulation, organization, and planning for security and other purposes. In a number of cases, energy security law is shaped by other factors such as market liberalization, environmental protection, and competition policy. Part III comprises two final chapters, the first contrasting the various national and regional approaches and analysing cross-cutting issues, whilst the concluding chapter forecasts future trends in the legal regulation of energy security.

It is widely accepted that the future development of environmental law depends not on further legislation, but on more effective enforcement. Within the EC legal system, the conventional view is that ...
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It is widely accepted that the future development of environmental law depends not on further legislation, but on more effective enforcement. Within the EC legal system, the conventional view is that the enforcement deficit is due to the fact that the environment is distinct from other fields of Community law. EC environmental law does not normally confer rights on individuals and may therefore not be judicially enforced in the same manner as rules concerning the internal market, competition and gender discrimination. This book explores and challenges this assumption. Drawing from constitutional aspects of EC law, the book examines to what extent the general case law on procedures and remedies may be transposed to the field of environment, whilst at the same time taking stock of the existing environmental case law and the distinctive features of environmental legislation. In a critical exposition and assessment of 50 years of jurisprudence by the European Court of Justice as well as recent legislative developments, the book explores the potential of enforcement of environmental law through lawsuits by individuals as well as the European Commission. By demonstrating that the environment is not so different from other fields of law in terms of rights and remedies, the book provides not only new insights to the enforcement of EC environmental law but also to the central characteristics of Community constitutional law.Less

The Enforcement of EC Environmental Law

Pål Wennerås

Published in print: 2007-08-16

It is widely accepted that the future development of environmental law depends not on further legislation, but on more effective enforcement. Within the EC legal system, the conventional view is that the enforcement deficit is due to the fact that the environment is distinct from other fields of Community law. EC environmental law does not normally confer rights on individuals and may therefore not be judicially enforced in the same manner as rules concerning the internal market, competition and gender discrimination. This book explores and challenges this assumption. Drawing from constitutional aspects of EC law, the book examines to what extent the general case law on procedures and remedies may be transposed to the field of environment, whilst at the same time taking stock of the existing environmental case law and the distinctive features of environmental legislation. In a critical exposition and assessment of 50 years of jurisprudence by the European Court of Justice as well as recent legislative developments, the book explores the potential of enforcement of environmental law through lawsuits by individuals as well as the European Commission. By demonstrating that the environment is not so different from other fields of law in terms of rights and remedies, the book provides not only new insights to the enforcement of EC environmental law but also to the central characteristics of Community constitutional law.

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